Boiling Point
by Charshee
Summary: The sun and the moon, chasing one another across the heavens. *Zutara drabbles, fluffy and steamy, with some angst for good measure. Enjoy!*
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: The first in a collection of shippy drabbles, some smutty, some fluffy, this being the latter! (The smutty chaps will be set further in the future.) Consider leaving me a review and letting me know what you think, and what you'd like to see! All fics take place in in separate universes, all multi chapter fics will be titled!_**

The banished prince glowered out at the horizon, the altercation with the Pirates and the Avatar's continued elusion of his efforts to catch him had him in a foul mood. He hears his uncle's heavy footsteps approaching across the deck, but refuses to acknowledge his arrival. The prince ignores the steaming cup of jasmine tea he is offered, and the old man sighs and lifts the cup to his lips,

"That's fine, I wanted it anyway."

Zuko snorted in distain, squeezing the stone in his fist so hard it's caved indents left their mark in his skin for hours afterwards. How could he be so careless? He'd had the Avatar there, in his grasp, and again he'd managed to fail. He felt his stomach do the twisting thing it always did when he thought about his mission.

There'd been a moment when the realization of just how much of a child his enemy was had struck him, as he watched the boy evade the pirates his body looked small and ill equipped for his fight. Of course, the power within him can control all the raw intensity of nature, but sometimes you could forget when you saw the innocence of childhood on his face. If he allowed himself such musings, that twisting in his gut became a fist clutching at his heart.

He opened his palm and examined the necklace in it, turning it over in his hand, brushing his thumb over the pattern. The water tribe girl had been loyal to the Avatar, and brave. She was young, not as young as the nomad, but enough that war looked strange on her. Her eyes had widened with terror when he'd grabbed her, and he didn't like the sensation that came over him when he remembered that fear.

"He's made friends." The old general said, watching his nephew closely. "Talented friends."

The prince gritted his teeth, his uncle was right. This was only going to make it harder.

"You know, I might know of someone who can help. I've heard of a hunter for hire who operates out of an inn not far from here. It's a steep price, but they say she can find anyone, as long as you have something of theirs."

"We can use his new friends to our advantage." Zuko held the necklace up to his face, still thinking of the girls wide blue eyes.

"That water tribe girl..." His uncle said, watching the boy's face, "her bending showed real promise."

"Hm." The prince said, absently, running the ribbon through his fingers.

"Pretty, too." His tone was off hand, the Dragon of the West resisted the urge to smirk when the boy's cheeks flushed a little,

"I don't what you're talking about!" He turned on the old man, snarling, inexplicably angry. The prince stormed away from the railing and back through the cabin doors, leaving his uncle to sigh as he watched the sun begin its descent below the horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Part 1 of a multi chapter drabble, full steam ahead... For now, fluff!_**

 **Of Secrets : Part 1**

"Okay, now, breathe deep down, all the way into your stomach." They moved together, side by side, in sync as she lifted the water from the shallow pool in which they stood. He mimicked her movements, watching keenly as the water flowed after her hand. She'd been staying at the palace for a while now, her grandmother had passed away a few weeks prior and she'd packed her bags and set off for the fire nation Capitol within hours of the burial. She couldn't face the village for the moment, it hurt too much. Sokka was with Suki on Kyoshi island, and according to the occasional (and initially unexpected, though she'd come to enjoy them) letter from Ty Lee, he and Suki only left their cabin or one another's company when absolutely necessary. Aang had just left the city himself, after meeting with the Fire Lord about a disputed border on the edge of fire nation and earth kingdom territory. There had been some debate as to whether or not the town had been fire nation before the war, and Zuko had given Aang full permission to settle it on his behalf, offering him materials and money to build a whole new town should the nations be totally unwilling to compromise. They'd been slowly integrating border towns the past couple of years, now the dust is better settled after the war. As long as everyone was well fed and had a roof over their head, there didn't seem to be much resistance from either nation.

They'd spent a lot of time training, showing one another bending forms and attempting to fit them to their own elements. She was showing him how to move the energy through himself. Since he'd saved her from Azula and suffered such pain he was uneasy about attempting to redirect lighting once again, and he'd long since accepted he'd never be able to make his own. His uncle had tried to teach him to separate his chi, but he was unable to remove his emotion from his fire. His uncle still refused to shoot lighting at him, so he'd traveled out to the sand flats and when a storm began to rumble he'd waited for the sky to crack in two and tumble to earth. Zuko meditated patiently, calling the spirits that twisted through the storm. They had heard him, he'd had a chance, a moment when he felt the static in the air so heavily he couldn't breathe; the thunder was loud enough to leave his ears ringing, but at the last moment he threw himself out of the way of the bolt, which left the sandy desert floor glassy and smooth. Every storm made him think of his sister, he heard her cackle under each thunder clap.

Katara dropped the water she'd been twisting through the air, the splash jerked him out of his thought. He'd abandoned his stance, and was holding a hand to the starburst scar on his chest.

"Sorry." He said, shaking his head, trying to clear it.

"It's alright," she stepped closer, concern on her face, "what's on your mind?"

"Azula" he said, simply, and he didn't need to say much more.

"Have you been to see her since...?" She trailed off, there had been a nasty confrontation between the Fire Lord and his sister a few months prior. She'd managed to grab one of her guards, held him hostage briefly, promised to slice his throat with a hairpin if they didn't free her. Her bending had been limited since her defeat, bursts of intense flame exploding from her cell when she was having a particularly bad day. It hurt him to see her like this, she was truly broken now. Zuko had wrestled the man free from her clutches himself, and tried his best to calm his sister down, but she'd only spat insults and what little flame she could intentionally muster at him. It had been a scene he wasn't all that willing to repeat.

"No. Mai visits her often, though."

"Does she speak?"

"Apparently. Mai doesn't like to talk about it."

His relationship with the noblewoman was increasingly strained. His duties as Fire Lord kept him busy, and since Katara's arrival at the palace he'd spent less and less of his free time with her.

"We don't have to keep training, we could go to the market, or visit your uncle?"

He didn't respond, just sighed, and ran his fingers over the marred skin on his chest, then brought his hand up to touch the mark on his face.

"Or we could..." Katara rose the water behind him silently, a good pitchers worth, " _fight_!" She announced as she released her grip and the Fire Lord was doused, soaked from head to foot. Shocked out of thought, he met her eyes and couldn't help but grin when he saw her giggling.

He shot a well aimed fireball over her shoulder, knowing she'd never feel anything but it's warmth as it whizzed by; she shot it out of the air with ease and danced around him. The next ball of water (which she chilled a little for an extra kick) he dodged, and crouched closer to the pool in which they stood, lowering his palms to it's surface and releasing a glow of heat that caused thick steam to rise up around them.

With the cover he had the advantage, his training in stealth far exceeded hers, even if her bending had him pretty equally matched. She pulled some of the moisture from the air, creating a thin force field around herself that he could not break without her knowing. She stood still, ready, listening intently, but the air seemed totally still. The mist didn't so much as stir, and she was totally surprised when he ambushed her from behind, grabbing her arms and pulling them behind her back. He held them together with one hand as he threw the other up in victory, and she took advantage of his weakened grip. In a second she'd wriggled one thin wrist free, and flicked a thin whip of water up, lashing it against his thigh sharply. He released her arm, howling his protest at the sting she'd caused.

Zuko was laughing now, and didn't resist when she pulled cool water up around her hands like gloves, and rushed him, grabbing his upper arms and pushing him against the stone wall that the pool lay beside. She froze him there, pinned at the arm, her own hands caught in the ice as they both laughed together.

"Say I win!" Katara insisted, her eyes wide and shining like the ice that crept up her wrists. They played like this often, particularly the rare times they all got together, they had so much youth to make up for now there was no war to plague their lives.

When he smiles she feels a strange relief, even now it's a rare occurrence. Fire Lords have to grow up quite quickly, so he's found.

"You always win!" He complains, but he's still smiling down at her. She looks familiar and soft, but there's something new there, in the five years since their victory something had changed. Now when he looks at her he feels strangely lost, like he's being swept out to sea. Her eyes are searching his face, and neither feels the cold of the ice as they hold their gaze. Suddenly, on an impulse that wins her over before she even feels it begin, she rises onto her tip toes and presses her lips to his. His eyes grow wide for a second, in shock, but the moment is too perfect to interrupt with questions like why. There's something inside both of them that's only saying "yes" as she leans deeper into the kiss, pressing her body against his.

It's over too soon, and they're both silent as she pulls away, pausing to meet his eyes with hers.

He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He wants to break through the ice and wrap his arms around her, he's suddenly parched for her lips, hooked on something he's only had once.

A voice breaks the silence, and they both feel the cold quite suddenly,

"Zuko!" Mai calls out into the courtyard from just within the palace, searching for her betrothed.

Katara unfreezes the ice in a second, turning from him with her cheeks burning, and runs across the pool. She refuses to look back at him as she hurries to the other side of the courtyard, rushing up the steps leading up to another door. Mai finds him a moment later,

"Zuko, we need to go get ready, my parents are holding their anniversary ball tonight, remember?" She aims a kiss at his cheek, and he feels his skin burn where it lands.


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N: Part 2, let the steaminess begin!_**

 **Of Secrets: Part 2**

She's engulfed in flame, or something very close to it. It's creeping up her thighs and down her throat. She struggled to free herself of it, but the more she squirmed the tighter it gripped her. It trails across her skin like fingertips, leaving a blaze in their wake. Her heavy breath catches, she sees movement in the darkness, as the heat crosses the rise of her breasts. Katara woke gasping for water, her throat was burning up.

The sheets are damp with sweat, she'd tried to kick them away but they'd twisted around her limbs and tangled her up in uncomfortable knots. It took her a desperate moment of scrambling blindly to free herself, and when she did she sighed in relief as the cool air hit her skin. In the darkness she reached out to the bedside table, bending the water from her cup up and into her mouth. It did little to douse the flames. It was like he'd passed a little of his fire to her when they'd kissed.

Katara groaned and rolled over to bury her flushed face in the pillow. It's mostly confusion that's haunting her, but there's embarrassment there as well. She'd have to face him sooner or later, the palace was big, but he'd corner her eventually.

She tried to think her way through the confrontation, planning her next move, but the moment imaginary-Katara went to explain herself, she threw herself at him imaginary lips-first. The source of her impulse was bubbling up from wherever she'd kept it hidden for so long, and there didn't seem to be any quelling it's flow now the floodgates had been opened. The only things she could recall of her dreams were flashes of flesh and heat, but they were enough to make her woozy with desire. She couldn't allow herself these passions, want like this could consume you if you let it sink its claws in. Not only was she uncertain if he even felt the heat at all, she knew his heart belonged to another.

She'd have to leave, right now, she'd have to take a carriage to the station and get tickets for the next ferry. She'd travel to see Sokka, perhaps, she didn't have to go home right away. She didn't have to face that empty house.

Her packing was rushed and erratic, she left half her wardrobe behind, a lot of it was better suited to the more temperate climate of the Fire Nation than her frigid village. Katara wrote a quick and brief note of farewell, apologizing for her sudden departure and promising to return soon, saying nothing of their embrace. She left it on her desk. He'd had these quarters set aside for her, kept in her preference whether she was staying at the palace or not.

"Perk of being the ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe!" The Fire Lord had said, when he presented the ornate chambers to her. Though she thought perhaps it was more a perk of being the Fire Lord's friend. She eyed the large tapestry that took up the far wall, a depiction of an old Water Tribe fable she'd told them all one night on their travels. Zuko had asked her to repeat it to him one night over dinner, less than a year after the war was ended, and had it commissioned for her.

Katara turned away from the familiar story, picked up her light bag, and snuck out the door, making sure it closed softly behind her. She could avoid most of the guards, she didn't want a conversation started, or any of them to inform their Fire Lord that his guest had left in the middle of the night.

The halls were empty except for the few guards on patrol. She had to dodge round a corner to avoid being seen just the once, and decided to cross an empty courtyard right in the heart of the palace as a shortcut to the front gates. The courtyard was home to a shimmering pond and an ancient, sturdy tree. Spindly cherry blossoms lined the walls, losing the last of their blooms in the warm air. She was nearly through the open space when a voice came out of the shadows of the tree, making her jump.

"Katara?" Zuko said, "what are you doing out here?"

He stepped out into the otherworldly moonlight, his face all angles and planes. When he caught sight of her packed bag he felt a strange panic rise in his chest.

"Are you okay?"

"No." She replied, simply, not trusting herself to speak or move. If she could just focus on keeping herself totally still, perhaps she could resist the urge to press herself against him.

"Has something happened?" Zuko searches her face, and when she wont meet his eyes he understands. "Oh."

His unexpectedly dejected tone makes her meet his eyes, and she drops her bag on the dewy grass, stepping closer,

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. It just sort of... Did. But I know I shouldn't have and I promise it will never, ever happen again." He's watching her speak more intently than he ever has before, watching her lips shape each regretful syllable. "I just want you to know that I didn't mean anything by it, I mean, you've got Mai, and we're, you know, us." She's babbling, wringing her hands together with nerves.

"I've got Mai" he repeats, guilt tinging his admiration of the way her eyes caught the moonlight better than the water could. The idea of never kissing her ever again filled him with cold dread.

"Exactly, so, please, don't think I expect anything or want anything."

When he reaches up and cups her face in his hands she can feel nothing but the heat his palms radiate spreading across her cheeks, see nothing but his face in the pale light. He's just as surprised as she at his actions, unable to break contact now he's made it.

"Katara..." He whispers, and she's sure she's still dreaming when his voice catches, "I think _I_ want _you_."

She rises to his confession like the tide, lifting onto her toes, but leaving the last few inches between them for him to close. He takes his time with this kiss, as their first was cut too short. There's heat radiating from the very heart of him, and she's drawn closer and closer to it. He pushes his fingers through her hair, she tilts her head as he leans over her, deepening the kiss.

Katara is caught off guard when he places his hands on her waist and turns them both around, pushing her firmly against the trunk of the old tree. Her hands spread across his chest, creeping into his robes to run them over the scar of his sacrifice. His sacrifice for her, and her alone. He breaks their kiss, looking down at her face, but all he can see in the shadows is the gleaming of her eyes.

She works her hand further into his clothing, while the other seeks the belt of his robe. He shrugged it off his shoulders impatiently, the sensation of her delicate fingers on his skin was like an eruption of heat, spreading across its surface. He wraps his arms around her, and she seems to read his mind, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist.

They whisper one another's names between kisses like they're trying to commit them to memory, like its the first time they've tried the words and they're savoring the taste. He nuzzles into her neck, groaning when she shifts her hips and pushes her heat against him. There's frustration building inside him, he holds her hips steady against the tree and grinds against her; testing the softness of her bottom lip with the keen sharp of his teeth, she bucks her hips when he nips at it. The barriers of their clothing did little to dull her sensitivity to the contact of their bodies, still she craved to tear those barriers down.

Even the Fire Lord couldn't risk being caught in the act with his ambassador in the middle of the palace courtyard, as much as he may want her. Still, they had a few minutes more before anyone patrolled the open walkway alongside the courtyard.

Katara made a noise of protest when he lowered her back to the ground, but her passions were soon distracted by his hands finding the hem of her tunic in the darkness and hitching it up to her stomach.

"Katara," he breathes, "may I...?"

She tugged at the hem herself impatiently in response, and he turned her on the spot so her back was to him, before pulling the garment up over her head and discarding it on the grass with her bag.

Zuko pulls her to his chest, burying his face in her hair as his hands roamed her body. His fingertips were unnaturally hot on her skin, her dream crossed into reality as they left fiery tracks across her breasts. When he rolled the hardened peaks of her nipples gently between his fingers she whimpered, and felt his hardness jump against her lower back. She reached behind her back to wrap her slender fingers around his length through his trousers, and he growls his frustration at the limitation of her touch. He abandoned her right breast, his hand sliding down her stomach to rest just below her naval.

"Please..." She whispers, and it's all the permission he needs, sliding his hand into her trousers and stroking his fingertips impossibly lightly over her heat. She pushes back against his touch, her legs getting a little shaky, and he wraps his arm around her, holding her steady against him. She turns her head to lean back against his chest, and presses her own hand over her mouth when he brushes over her most sensitive spot, causing her knees to give way and a low moan to escape her throat, despite her best efforts to stifle it.

They both freeze in the darkness as the unintentionally loud sound interrupts the quiet around them. As they listen to the night they hear voices approaching from the open corridor, two guards arguing over a scheduling error. They pull themselves apart reluctantly but quickly, diving for their respective clothing. They grasp hands as they run for the door she came through, and their footsteps are cat like as they creep swiftly through the halls. When they reach the crossroads that lead to each of their rooms Zuko paused to examine her face, now illuminated by dim torchlight.

"Please, stay? Don't go tomorrow. We'll sort this out, I promise, just... Stay, please?" The Fire Lord pleads shamelessly, and she can't help but promise she won't leave before they speak again. He presses a kiss to the back of her hand in farewell before the two part ways, hurrying back to the loneliness of their chambers.

When they're both safely back in their beds neither feels capable of rest, though each is eventually caught by sleep. There's not much difference between the burning of their dreams, and the aching of their unsatisfactory reality that night.

* * *

The Fire Lord is woken unbearably early the next morning, a servant insisting that he must visit his sister at once. The messenger was fearful, the princess turned patient was in one of her worse moods. It wasn't as explosive as her anger, or as cold as her condescension; this wild cackling and muttering whispers to some ally no one else could see, between bolts of weak but harmful lightning shot through the bars and windows at random, but it was dangerous and unnerving.

He'd been unable to lock his ill sister in a moldy dungeon like his father. Somewhere deep down he understood that her corruption wasn't a choice she made, but an inheritance. While he got the power to bring balance and peace, she was given only destruction. As a result he'd a in the palace converted to the nicest version of a prison he could muster, though Azula had insisted to him she'd rather rot in a cell than share a palace with the likes of him.

The servant accompanied him to the well guarded tower, but at the door to the cell-room Zuko stopped him, and the two guards who went to follow him in,

"Let me speak to her alone. You'll hear if I need you, trust me." They bowed their heads, though all looked uncertain at the concept of leaving him alone with her.

When he walked through the door she wasn't laughing, just standing with her back to him, facing the barred window.

"Hello, brother." She said, a ghost of her past icy veneer shining through.

"What's going on, Azula?"

"You should really come enjoy the fine furnishings of the cage you've put me in," the once princess suggested.

"Last time I went in there you tried to claw my eyes out," he sighed, "and you put yourself in a cell."

She turned to look at him, a quick glance over her shoulder, but her very gaze is venom.

"You should really see the view from this window, Zuzu." Her voice is high, light and overly casual. "You can see so much of the palace from here." He can feel his heart begin to pick up the pace. "I have a lovely view of the pond where you used to like to feed those awful quacking creatures, the one with that grand old tree..." Azula resisted the urge to watch the effect her words are having on him, simply staring out the window at the courtyard she had a clear view of from above.

"What do you want?" His tone is cutting, guilt and anger wrestling within him.

"We'll see." She says, facing him with a smile as he storms from the room.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: A retelling of pirate chase. SFW, fluffy and angsty**_

She wasn't a fool. Pirates had raided ships from her tribe from time to time for generations. Katara had watched the victims of an attack stumble off an Earth Kingdom trading ship, one of the few that ever made it past Fire Nation patrols, when she was only ten years old. The men who had not been lost were badly wounded, but the worst off of the group was a young woman of the Water Tribe who's merchant father had sent her on the voyage to check the order.

They carried her off the ship and into the village in silence, the little water bender ran ahead of them to warn her grandmother of the approaching patient. Katara's grandmother had already begun brewing a particularly stinky concoction of sea kelp and traded herbs when they brought her into the igloo and lay her on the soft animal hides. Kanna instructed the Katara to undress the woman of her simple tunic. The little girl was surprised to find the young woman's bindings were already gone, her bronze skin interrupted by blossoming purple bruises.

"Is it for the bruises?" Katara asked her grandmother, who was spooning the steaming brew into a small bowl.

"No." The old woman replied, softly, "it is so she does not conceive a child."

Katara didn't understand until a year later, when the familiar smell filled the igloo as they tended to a woman who had been detained as a suspected water bender by fire nation guards. While the merchant's daughter had never truly recovered from her ordeal, never speaking again until the day she died, the other woman cried curses on the Fire Nation (and all men) all through her recovery, and hadn't stopped since. Katara had connected the dots. Stealing the scroll from the pirates had felt a little like revenge.

When she'd seen the face of the pirate who grabbed her she'd felt panic wash through her veins like arctic water, she was too far from camp for Sokka and Aang to hear her scream. She mastered the flow of the water in a moment, now her life was on the line, and sighed with relief as her attack knocked him off his balance, and she slipped free. Katara began to run like all of hell lay behind her, peeking back over her shoulder to check he wasn't on her tail.

"I'll save you from the pirates." His hands were like iron shackles, his voice cut through the dark in a cold rasp, a stark contrast to his unnaturally hot palms on her skin.

 _No._

There was no fighting his grip, when she opened her mouth to scream he held his palm over her mouth and hushed her, dragging her back to where the ships were docked. She tried to drag her feet, but he held her to him so tightly they barely touched the ground. Pirates were bad enough, but if the crown prince of the Fire Nation tried to lay his hands on her she would ensure him a second scar to match his first, no matter what it cost her.

Her heart pounded in her ears as her arms were tied tightly to her sides, no amount of squirming would lose the bonds, not that there would be anywhere to go but back into the arms of Fire Nation thugs or unruly pirates. The Prince waved the guards who bound her away, and she glowered up at him as he stepped closer.

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you, or your brother."

"Go jump in the river!" She spat at him, her fear only a little stronger than her rage at getting caught, and at him for doing the catching. She was surprised when his voice softened, though it only scared her more when he began closing the gap between them,

"Try to understand, I need to capture him to restore something I've lost," she felt the hairs on the nape of her neck rise as he spoke from behind her. She wasn't going to let him win, if he lay his hands on her, "my honor." He was close, seeking out her eyes with his, she wouldn't look, he wouldn't see her fear. "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something _you've_ lost." When she feels the air stir around her and sees his hands begin to move she bites down hard on her lip, tensed and waiting to fight against his touch. She could feel the heat radiate from his fingertips, but it never came, and instead a familiar pendant dangled before her throat.

"My mother's necklace!" She exclaimed, as he stepped away from her, "how did you get that?!"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is!"

"No!" They glared at one another, and she went on glaring when the captain interrupted, and Zuko threatened to burn their prize.

The captain ordered two of his men to stay with the Fire Nation troops, and see that his investment was protected. They eyed the water bender, who began twisting her arms, attempting to free her hands slightly. If she could just bend a little, she'd feel a lot safer.

She couldn't sleep like this, even as the night dragged on, even as her back and feet ached. The prince questioned her again, but she refused to respond.

"Of course you wouldn't understand." He sighed, and turned to speak to his uncle. The pirates who had been watching her sidled over to the prince and the general,

"You know, I have a friend in Ba Sing Se who could offer you a lot more than what that scroll is worth for another, finer Water Tribe artifact." The sailor jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the water bender and winked, who felt her stomach drop through the earth and be swallowed up by darkness.

"I'm not in the business of selling people." Snarled Zuko, and the pirates edged quickly away from his sudden anger. He watched the Pirates until they were a good distance from his captive, then lost his fight against the urge to look over at her. Her wide eyes met his, and he fought back the shame rose within him when he saw her fear. Zuko turned his back, and avoided looking at her for the rest of the night, focusing on scolding each solider and crew member who returned to the beach without the Avatar and sending them back into the woods.


End file.
